Another time-waster
10 05 2008Once again, we have to find a new buyer or buyers for weaners from our latest litter of Berkshire pigs as a buyer has fallen through at the last minute.
We were contacted nine weeks again by Rebecca Ramsay (formerly Shaw-MacKenzie) who wanted three gilts for her farm at Newall House near Dingwall.
She was very specific about what she wanted, argued about the prices and was generally very demanding but as we’ve sold pigs to her before, we thought the sale would go through.
Ms Ramsay also complained about having to come to collect the weaners herself as her “staff” were planning to quit. (They collected the last batch of weaners.)
But she started developing cold feet this week, telling us on the phone that as her “staff” were leaving and she had other things on it would be difficult to take the pigs, but she would take two of the gilts as she had made a commitment to buy.
As is so often the case with the glibly polite set, in our view it seemed she was lying through her teeth.
Tonight, she emailed via Blackberry to say:
Further to my call this morning, I am afraid, after much careful consideration, I have to admit that I am really unable to take any pigs on this occasion. As I explained to your wife, the NZ couple who help me is now leaving at the end of June and, until I have a replacement, I am not in a position to take on more animals. I am very sorry about this and do hope it hasn’t made things too difficult for you.
With best wishes,
Rebecca
What a load of hooey. Of course it will be bloody difficult!
The weaners were due to be collected this coming Friday, Saturday or Sunday; we’re now going to have to splash out more money on advertising them; we’re now short of cash for the fencing that was delivered today; and we now face the risk of having pigs on our hands for longer than planned, meaning higher feed and straw bills.
As for claiming the loss of her staff meant she couldn’t take the pigs, she told me eight weeks ago that her staff were leaving so if she knew she couldn’t handle the pigs in their absence, then she not have ordered them.
We already have two gilts more than planned on the croft as a buyer fell through on the last litter we sold—simply failing to show.
We’re having to fatten them and have only just secured definite buyers for their pork, but of course won’t get any return until the end of July while spending more cash on feed and straw.
I’m thoroughly fed up with time-wasters who say they want specific pigs, decline to pay deposits, and then go all evasive and uber-polite before vanishing.
Even more so when I’ve been out working until almost 10pm and come inside, thoroughly exhausted, to find an email like the one above waiting for me.
Well, Ms Ramsay, you are now on our list of people that, in our opinions, sellers of livestock are advised to avoid.
As for the weaners, we now have three gilts available for sale again.
It woul seem that it is now essential to ask for a substantial non-returnable deposit from anyhow who reserves one of your pigs. This would be considered normal practice if they were reserving a pedigree puppy or kitten and I don’t see why it should be different for a pig. At least the deposit would help to cover your expenses if the sale fell through. It would be such a shame if you reduce your breeding to perhaps just the one litter a year just to provide your own pork.
The problem with demanding a deposit is that we’d lose a large proportion of genuine sales. People won’t pay a deposit as “we don’t know you” and “you couid just keep the money and not sell us the pigs”.
We’re talking about £10 per pig (mainly to cover cost of advetising if the sale falls through), the croft is not about to change address in the night, and I can hardly see us doing a flit on the basis of around £100-120 gained from deposits.
So we ask for deposits to reserve pigs, but we don’t demand them as people start backing off from buying. Roughly two buyers per litter won’t pay a deposit but do go through with their purchase, while one won’t pay a deposit and fails to go through.
(On the positive side, there are a handful of buyers who pay the full amount for their pigs in advance.)
Thank goodness there are some good guys out there, who do play fair.
Stoney I feel for you, I really do.
The B&B world is also full of time-wasters and chancers. We had any number of late cancellations and no-shows until we installed a credit card booking system. This cut down dramatically on both, although I am sure we have also lost bookings because people don’t want to give their card details to complete strangers. However I would rather know exactly where we stand. No card details; no booking!
Some people must think we do this for fun and we don’t really need the money. Just as I am sure people think you raise pigs for fun and don’t really need the money either!
Sympathy to you young man, also having a B&B I know what a pain in the rear these *no shows* are.
But… Trouble with the uber polite pretend to gentry is that they tend to shout & jump on the libel bus at the slightest thing. I’d really consider doing an edit just to watch you back that ways.
Fingers crossed someone steps in soon.
I’m very careful to only express my honestly held opinion based on the facts as I know them. So I might think certain other things, but refrain from saying them. I can, however, conclude that someone who wastes my time is indeed a timewaster. I can also conclude that if they tell me one thing, then contradict it, that there does appear to be an untruth there somewhere.
Unfortunately, far too many of us are intimidated into allowing people to get away with this sort of behaviour through fear of being impolite or fear of legal consequences.
It’s also important to for other people offering goods and services to people like this to know how they can expect to be treated.
Indeed. And here I felt bad with all the interminable “let’s meet for coffee” people who intend to pick my brain without paying for the consulting. I had some Adsense-addled greedhead crash the blogging workshop I teach to the mentally ill, just so she could get out of paying. I was mean and pointed her in the direction of Adsense and a couple of ad networks that will waste weeks of her time and then never approve her.